Connor Wickham answered my prayers - Sunderland boss Gus Poyet

TOP MAN: Connor Wickham with his Player of the Month award [ACTION IMAGES]

Back in the dark days of late March with the Capital One Cup final fading into history and the Black Cats hurtling towards the relegation trapdoor, a desperate Poyet prayed for a miracle.

A saviour has come along in the form of Wickham - although he's not the one Poyet envisaged.

The Sunderland chief knew that for his side to have any chance of avoiding the drop, they needed a player to hit the heights Adam Johnson did in January when his exploits earned him the Barclays Player of the Month award.

Little did he imagine Wickham, who at that stage was still on loan at Leeds, would emerge as his unlikely hero becoming the second Black Cat in four months to win it.

"I mentioned a few weeks ago that if we could get another player of the month, we could win a few games and give ourselves a chance." said Poyet.

"I was hoping for Johnno to win it again or maybe Fabio Borini but it's great that Connor's done it."

Wickham's recent exploits are comic book stuff.

After scoring one top flight goal in three and a half years, the 21-year-old has caught fire this month, with five goals in three games to dramatically revive Sunderland's survival chances.

I'LL KEEP HIM GROUNDED: Gus Poyet says he will Wickham's feet on the ground and won't let his recent success get to his head [GETTY]

“I mentioned a few weeks ago that if we could get another player of the month, we could win a few games and give ourselves a chance.”

Gus Poyet

And having found the net at both the Etihad Stadium and Stamford Bridge where Poyet's resurgent side took four points, Manchester United won't be underestimating either Wickham or their in-form opponents today.

Thanks to Wickham, Sunderland probably need just one win from their remaining three fixtures to stay up.

And having spent much of April lifting flagging spirits, Poyet's had to issue a reality check to his players and Wickham in particular.

"We have to make sure he keeps his feet on the ground," said the Black Cats chief, who could name an unchanged side for the fourth game in a row.

"It cannot be the opposite way around. That is part of the job of a manager to keep players grounded.

"Right now, everything is going right for Connor but you cannot allow them to get too high."

Meanwhile, Sunderland defender Wes Brown expects United to be firing on all cylinders now that his old team-mate Ryan Giggs is in charge.

"I watched the first game and United did really well and were up for it," Brown said.

"I always thought Ryan would eventually go on to manage a team. I'm sure he's thriving on it and looking forward to the next few games ahead.

"United will definitely be up for the game, as will the crowd. We've got to try and drain that and go out to do what we've been doing over the last few weeks."

Sunderland thrashed Cardiff last week and Brown added: "If we can keep up that level of performance over the next three games then we've got a great chance."